From April 30 to May 6, 2017, America will celebrate Small Business Week, an annual event sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA). According to Gregg White, owner of SERVPRO of Lawrence, Small Business Week is an opportunity for national and community leaders to recognize the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners to the country’s economy.  According to statistics from the SBA, 28 million small businesses in America account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales; of those 28 million businesses, the 600,000 U.S. franchised small businesses, like SERVPRO, account for 40 percent of all retail sales and provide jobs for some eight million people. As these local business people work to grow their businesses, they help create 21st century jobs, drive innovation, and increase America’s global competitiveness.

Some franchised small businesses offer entrepreneurs an opportunity to own and run their own small business while providing a service to the community they live and work in. With SERVPRO, for example, franchise ownership helps entrepreneurs combine their hometown knowledge and the emotional investment they have with their community with access to the latest disaster remediation technology and products. This combination creates a community asset that could prove invaluable to home and business owners who are struck by the unexpected. "I’m proud to be a small business owner in my community,” says White. “But, as a SERVPRO small business owner, I know that the unexpected can happen – a flood, a fire, an explosion, a storm, a mudslide, whatever the event might be – big or small. When the unexpected does happen, I’m also proud to know that my staff and I are ready to respond immediately and effectively to limit the damage to property and disruption to lives in my community. Having both an emotional and financial stake in the community is what distinguishes small businesses with local owners from other businesses. And that’s what makes small businesses such an important thread in the fabric of this country.”